The Otherworldly Adventures of a Super Naive Girl

443: Disguised as Servants

Nigusu was so infatuated with his new wife that he couldn’t bear to be apart from her. His mother couldn’t even have a private conversation with him without him saying extremely callous things to her just because she requested his wife leave the room.

How could a mother not know her own child? Nigusu had always treated her with utmost respect. She had raised him after his father died when he was a young child so she knew he wouldn’t disregard her the way he had just because he loved another woman.

His behavior toward her, when combined with what his deputy mayor said about his strange behavior, made her wonder if Nigusu was plotting something.

The old lady began to suspect it all started with the new countess, her daughter-in-law.

She had initially been quite satisfied with the woman her son had chosen. He had been unmarried for so long, and as a mother, she had been worried. Her son finally fell in love so of course she wasn’t going to stop him from marrying the woman.

This was one of the things the old lady regretted the most. Everything would have been different if she had just investigated the woman’s background a little bit.

The old lady’s hair had turned completely white and she was exhausted from all the pressure from the problems involving her son.

Feng Wu’s group was not the first to be invited by the old lady. Several other groups had investigated previously, but all their results were the same: there was nothing wrong with the countess; she was human.

They all said the same things but the old lady couldn’t accept it. Her mind was firm; she was not the type to give up easily. How could she have raised her eldest son into such a fine man by herself if she was?

She began looking for other adventurers to take up the task. There had to be people with real skills who could see through to the heart of the problem.

So ultimately, the task wasn’t just to investigate her daughter-in-law, but also to explain the reason for how her daughter-in-law was related to her son’s change in personality.

If the problem with her son could be resolved, she would increase the reward by no small amount.

It was such a big reward, of course the group accepted. All the previous adventurers had entered the castle as guests, but this time Pei Qing took the initiative to request they enter as servants. What better role to snoop through a master’s household affairs than that of a servant? Guests would be observed, but servants were practically invisible. After all, what master would be so bored as to pay attention to the movements of servants in his house?

And thus, were they were arranged to enter the castle as servants in order to investigate.

It just so happened the castle was in need of additional help. There were vacant positions because several young servant girls had gone missing, so the castle needed to hire additional help to make up for the staff shortage. The disappearances had been kept hush hush and few outside the castle knew about it.

The count was bedridden while servants went missing one after another. It was no wonder the old lady suspected the daughter-in-law. The new countess really was suspicious.

A total of six servants were recruited: four females, two males. Naturally Rain and Feng Wu took two of the female servant positions while Pei Qing and Wind took the two male servant positions.

The four recently hired girls were assigned a shared room. The other two girls, formerly a fish monger and a farmer, were local girls. They were hired because they were fresh, young looking girls with good moral character.

Aside from having good appearance and moral character, servants needed to be quick workers. Many girls dreamt of getting the job because the stringent requirements meant they were treated very well.

The girls began organizing their personal belongings inside the room. They wouldn’t need to wear their own clothes because uniforms would be supplied. Each girl had been given four sets of uniforms, two identical ones for spring and two identical ones for autumn.

They had just finished sorting their clothes when a female servant arrived to usher them to dinner.

Servants ate in the dining hall after the family ate. They were assigned their own personal bowls, which they labeled with their names. Rice was the staple food, so every person was allotted a bowlful of rice at every meal.

Stir fry the rice with some vegetables and meat, then add in some seasonings, and the meal was ready.

A group of men and women, who were attired differently, sat at the opposite end of the table from them. They looked arrogantly at Feng Wu’s group of servants while her group looked back at them enviously.

“Who are those people?” Rain asked quietly.

“You don’t know them?!” One of the new maids who joined at the same time as Rain was surprised.

“They’re servants one rank above us. They serve the master and mistress directly as lady’s maids and valets, so their identities are much different from ours.”

“If only I could be promoted to a lady’s maid. Their salary is several times higher than us lower ranked servants.”

“Yeah, my life would be so worth it if I could get their jobs.”

The maids replied in unison. Moving up from a house maid to a lady’s maid was a goal many of the girls shared, but with their backgrounds and talents, they were destined to remain as ordinary house maids. Being ordinary as they were, just having such desires was already aspiring high.

Rain’s background was good so she failed to understand why being a lady’s maid was such a lofty goal. A lady’s maid was still a servant. Weren’t they all the same?

Rain noticed the other servants glaring at her upon exiting her reverie.

“What happened?” Rain asked Feng Wu nervously.

“You said it.” Feng Wu replied.

Rain had inadvertently spoken her thoughts out loud.

“No. . . ” Rain wailed. They entered the castle as servants in order to keep a low profile. Wind and Pei Qing would scold her to death if they knew she had attracted attention on the very first day!

444: You Won't Be Able to Live If You Bring Disaster to Yourself

The dining room was in an uproar at Rain’s remark. Who knew there was someone who would dare speak such words in front of the other maids. Must be unafraid of dying. Wasn’t she aware the lady maids were higher ranked than she was? A few words from them, and her life would be miserable. Nothing good was going to come out of offending them.

The thought obviously occurred to Rain. She felt a headache coming on. She suddenly understood what it meant to shoot yourself in the foot. The realization showed on her face.

“Who is this girl? Really does not have a brain. Even the lady maids, will dare offend!”

“Looks like new arrival. What was the housekeeper thinking hiring her?”

The maids pointed at Rain and whispered.

You don’t have to whisper! I can still hear you, Rain thought.

Compared to the five maids, Rain, because she had cultivated since she was a child, had hearing that was beyond what the maids could imagine.

Their deliberately lowered voices were still as clear as day to Rain.

“Look who it is. Turns out to be a low-class maid. A maid is a maid indeed. She doesn’t even understand the most basic etiquette, and she dares speak so rudely about us maids.” A beautiful, young maid glanced disdainfully at Rain.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This girl is a new arrival; she just arrived yesterday. Please for my sake, don’t harass her!” A woman in her thirties came over. She was the butler’s daughter-in-law and was essentially head of all the house maids.

“Big Sister Tingli, it’s not that we aren’t considering you, but this kind of girl, with her attitude, sooner or later, she’s bound to create problems. It’s better if she’s dismissed right away.” The maid who spoke was a little intimidated by Tingli’s rank, but she was unwilling to let Rain off the hook.

“I know, I know. Rest assured I will give you a proper account.” Tingli wasn’t head of the house maids for so many years for nothing. She immediately turned around and gave Rain a stern look.

“Rain, for punishment, you will not eat today and you will not sleep until you finish chopping all the wood in the back. Hurry on!”

“Yes, I’ll go Big Sister Tingli!” Rain enthusiastically replied before running out.

“See, I’ve punished her, so don’t worry about it OK? That child just entered the castle so doesn’t understand anything. Give her a chance to make amends.”

The maid wanted to say something, but someone reached out a slender hand, pulling at her. She looked back, and upon seeing who it was, stopped talking.

“Big Sister Tingli already explained, of course we won’t bicker about it, it’s just that the girl’s temperament is unstable. Big Sister Tingli must watch over her carefully so she doesn’t offend the master.”

“Of course, I will take good care of her. Now everyone, continue with your meal.” Tingli left with a smile.

Feng Wu had been watching the entire scene play out without saying a word. Pei Qing said they were there to investigate the countess, so they had to endure whatever they may encounter in order to not alert the enemy.

Because of this, Feng Wu, Pei Qing and Wind all stayed quiet. They couldn’t risk drawing attention to themselves now that Rain had been noticed. So the group watched from the sidelines and didn’t interfere.

After eating a meal that wasn’t very tasty, Feng Wu left the dining hall to find Rain. The maids who were looking to make trouble for Rain also left shortly after.

“Lamia, why did you stop me just now? That girl named Rain, I don’t want to let her go.”

“Krishgova, I stopped you for you own good. Tingli is the butler’s daughter-in-law. You’re not going to gain anything in offending her.” Lamia explained.

“Lamia is right. You were too impulsive just now Krishgova.”

“Getting rid of a lowly servant is the easiest thing. You don’t need to have a confrontation with Tingli over it.”

The maids on the side gathered around Krishgova to speak sense into her.

“Who cares about the butler? Who doesn’t know the real master of the house is the countess? The butler is the old lady’s person, and her power is already usurped by the countess.” Krishgova’s face had tensed at the mention of the butler, but it cleared up quickly once she thought about the situation.

The expression on the other maids drastically changed at her words. They quickly rushed to pull her away.

Once they reached a private spot, Lamia shook Krishgova’s hand away.

“Are you crazy Krishgova?! You dare talk like this out in the open? If you don’t want to live, that’s fine, but don’t drag the rest of us down with you.” Lamia never expected Krishgova to be so brainless. The countess suppressing the old lady through her butler, which of them didn’t already know?

But it wasn’t something they could speak out loud or bring attention to. If they ever brought out in the open, as servants, they would not end well.

Whether it was the old lady or the new lady, neither were to be trifled with. The old lady might look weak, but she was the count’s mother and the countess would never allow any of the servants to disrespect her mother-in-law nor would she allow anything to besmirch her own reputation. One or two servants dying wouldn’t even make a ripple, nor would anyone speak on their behalf.

In fact, Rain hadn’t said anything wrong, it was just that the maids had a shortsighted view. It didn’t matter what kind of maid they were; their lives were forfeit the moment they made a misstep. In the end, their lives were subject to the whims of their masters.

The complexions of the other maids had also paled. How could the same thoughts that occurred to Lamia not have occurred to them? It was because they thought of it that they were angry at Krishgova.

Krishgova knew she spoke inappropriately, so she dejectedly apologized and didn’t dare speak so casually again.

In the end, whether the butler was pushed out or not, getting rid of an insignificant maid was a simple matter. Krishgova had been too angry just now and spoke carelessly. It was all that maid, Rain’s, fault. She needed to humiliate that girl as soon as she got the chance. . . 

Rain, still chopping wood in the back, didn’t know she had been targeted by a mean-eyed maid. She had been studying swordsmanship since she was a child, so her physique was excellent. If it wasn’t for her disguise and the possibility someone was watching her, she would have used her qi to chop all the wood already.